Notes on a scorecard: Just another mugging in NYC

Credit Gregg Popovich for stating the painfully obvious after his team’s most disappointing defensive performance of the season.

“New York kicked our -ss,” Popovich said moments after New York sliced through the Spurs in a resounding 128-115 victory.

Heck, this wasn’t only the worst defensive performance of the season, but might have been the Spurs’ worst effort in a generation.

The last time the Spurs allowed as many points in regulation came on March 3, 1993 — a span of 6,516 days — when John Lucas’ team endured a 132-91 thumping at Boston. That game was so long ago that Kevin McHale still was playing for the Celtics in his final season before retirement. J.R. Reid and David Wood were the Spurs starting forwards in that game.

On Tuesday, the Knicks had three players with at least 28 points, including Wilson Chandler’s season-best 31. They beat the Spurs inside, they beat them outside, they beat them all over the court.

“They were more aggressive, more physical and hungrier than we were,” Popovich said. “If we score 115 points, I expect to win the basketball game. Our defense was pathetic. It was the worst of the year for us.”

The Knicks sliced through the Spurs for a season-worst 72 points in the first half. They were only the third team of the season to notch back-to-back 30-point quarters against the Spurs in the first two quarters this season, joining Oklahoma City on Nov. 14 and Indiana in the season opener on Oct. 27.

“When we play against a (New York coach Mike) D’Antoni team, usually we find a way to slow the game down,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan said. “Tonight, we couldn’t do it.”

The Spurs will play at a much slower pace Wednesday night at Boston. Their challenge will be as great, if not greater, as they attempt to stave off back-to-back losses while taming the Eastern Conference’s winningest team.

Here are a few notes, tidbits and observations while watching a San Antonio team play defense like it did back in the glory days of the ABA.

Hard to believe the Spurs would lose by 13 points in what was realistically a pretty good offensive effort. The Spurs racked up a season-high 62 points in the paint. They shot 53.7 percent from the field, which has been topped only twice this season. They scored a season-best 69 points in the first half as they scored 30 points for only the third time in both the first and second quarters this season. But it still wasn’t enough.

The bright spot for the Spurs was Tony Parker, who notched 26 points and six assists as he flashed the skills that New York desperately wanted to run D’Antoni’s offense. But even with those numbers, he was matched by Raymond Felton, who ripped through the Spurs for 28 points and seven assists.

DeJuan Blair put together another strong scoring and rebounding game as he matched his season high with 17 points and added eight rebounds. Coupled with his 12 points against Oklahoma City on Saturday, it marked only the second time this season that Blair has produced back-to-back double-figure scoring games. Despite his early success, Blair didn’t stay on the court much in the second half. He scored five points after the break and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks were able to find ways to isolate their shooters against Manu Ginobili, who scored 15 points but was a team-worst minus-14 in plus-minus. The Knicks were also the first opponent to reach 100 points after three quarters this season against the Spurs as they shot 65.2 percent in the first quarter, 54.2 percent in the second quarter and 52.2 percent in the third quarter.

Since scoring a team-best 21 points against Dallas last week, rookie guard Gary Neal has endured a mini shooting slump. Over the last two games, Neal has hit 5-for-21 from the field (23.8 percent), 2-for-10 from 3-point territory (20 percent) and scored 13 points (6.5 points per game).

It was hard for any of the San Antonio big men to contain Amar’e Stoudemire and Chandler. Antonio McDyess did the best job, scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds in 18:21. McDyess also had a plus-minus of minus-1 — best for a San Antonio player in the game.

George Hill finished with 13 points, extending his streak of double-figure scoring games to five since returning to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained toe late last month. Hill is averaging 12.4 points per game, hitting 65.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point territory since returning from the injured list.

Probably realizing what his team has in front of it Wednesday in Boston, Popovich brought in his reserves with 3:13 left when Ime Udoka and Tiago Splitter were inserted into the game. Chris Quinn came two seconds later. It came after a 7-2 New York spurt that effectively put the game away.

New York’s offensive execution was amazing. The Knicks fired up 91 shots and matched their season low with six turnovers. It was the fewest turnovers forced by the Spurs since they forced four in a loss against New Jersey on March 29.

The Knicks won a game for only the third time this season when shooting less than 38 percent from 3-point territory. Against the Spurs, the Knicks shot 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) from the field.

Matt Bonner came into the game ranked second in the NBA, hitting 49.5 percent of his 3-point shots. For only the third time this season, Bonner failed to make a 3-pointer. And for the first time since the season opener against Indiana, a game where his playing time was significantly cut short with an ankle injury, Bonner didn’t even take a 3-pointer.

The Spurs committed 16 turnovers. It was their most in nine games, since they committed 17 against Milwaukee on Dec. 15. And they were minus-10 in turnover margin, matching their high for the season set at Phoenix on Nov. 3 when they had 23 turnovers and forced 13.